Contrite councilman resigns; admits taking bribe

In many ways, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance might have been speaking Monday for an entire city shell-shocked by the latest example of illegal government profiteering when she admonished New Orleans City Councilman Oliver Thomas, only minutes after the one-time mayoral hopeful pleaded guilty to a charge of accepting bribes from a City Hall vendor.

"This guilty plea is a body blow to a community that is already reeling under a wave of public corruption," Vance said. "If this city is ever to recover, we have to have an end to this type of venality."

Watch press conference from the Federal Courthouse

While Thomas stood silent as Vance delivered her lashing in the federal courthouse on Poydras Street, he later offered a heartfelt apology to the citizens of New Orleans and announced his immediate resignation, ending a 13-year career on the council, including the last five as one of its two citywide representatives.

"I stand before you today humbled, disappointed in myself, and seeking your forgiveness for what I'm about to say," said Thomas, who was flanked by his wife Angelle, and his attorney, Clarence Roby.

"Approximately five years ago, I accepted an inappropriate gift from a local businessman intending to influence me to gain my influence as an elected official. It was wrong. And I accept full responsibility for this action, and for using incredibly poor judgment. I acknowledge my guilt today, and I stand prepared to pay the consequences for my mistake."

Friends of Oliver Thomas speak on his behalf.

Thomas, 50, has endured a series of personal tragedies since Hurricane Katrina, including the deaths of a brother and an uncle and the recent hospitalization of his mother. Due to lingering emotional problems associated with his experiences in the aftermath of the storm, Thomas said he has been taking anti-depressants and seeing a therapist for more than a year.

Thomas, who did not take questions during the noon news conference inside Roby's Canal Street offices, said in a subsequent interview with The Times-Picayune that the months-long federal investigation that culminated with Monday's guilty plea nearly pushed him to the breaking point.

"I've been getting counseling for a few years, because of Katrina and because of my brother and the images of bodies and despair -- the whole rescue stuff," he said struggling to hold back tears. "Some people you could help, some you couldn't.

"So this on top of that, I'm being honest with you, man. Clarence Roby and my family helped save my life, 'cause I thought about taking it."

Thomas denied rumors moving through political circles that the bribes were used to feed his gambling habit. Thomas, an admitted fan of off-track horse racing parlors, said his gambling "had nothing to do with (the bribes). Of course (gambling) is never a good thing. But my wife and I were always able to pay our bills."

Facing a maximum jail sentence of ten years and a fine of up to $250,000, Thomas ironically offered words of thanks to his "friends at the U.S. Attorney's office," noting that federal prosecutors treated him with "dignity and respect."

"I respected that," he added. "I fundamentally believe the ethics in this community and the culture in this community has to change. At a moment in my life, I should have known better."

Thomas, whose guilty plea represents the most significant development to date in a sprawling federal probe of government corruption overseen by U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, admitted to accepting nearly $20,000 in bribes in 2002 from restaurateur Stan "Pampy" Barre, a confidant of former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial.

At the time, a Barre-owned company held a share of the contract to operate three city-owned parking lots near the downriver end of the French Quarter.

The lots are owned by the French Market Corp., a city agency that is run by mayoral appointees, including three City Council members. In 2002, Thomas took a seat on the French Market board, which approves the management contracts for the parking lots, with input from the mayor's office.

In a four-page document that outlined the scheme, prosecutors said Barre approached Thomas because he was concerned his company might see the contract canceled under newly elected Mayor Ray Nagin. Thomas accepted $15,000 in two cash payments from Barre in exchange for a promise to help Barre's company, Common Street Ventures, maintain its contract, the document said.

Thomas also demanded that Barre hire a friend, Joseph Jourdain, and pay him one-third of all gross proceeds from the parking contract, according to prosecutors.

Jourdain, 41, who pleaded guilty on Wednesday to concealing the crime -- officially known as misprision of a felony -- then paid Thomas $1,000 cash kickbacks at four separate meetings, prosecutors said.

During the first half of 2002, prosecutors said Barre gave Jourdain four separate checks totaling about $9,200.

"After receiving a call from Barre's office, Jourdain would go to Barre's office to collect the checks," the document said. Prosecutors also wrote that "Jourdain performed no work for any of this money, nor did he invest any money in the company."

Letten said Monday that Barre had agreed to testify about the bribes he paid to Thomas and Jourdain if the case had gone to trial. Sources familiar with the federal investigation say the bribery case against Thomas was a product of conversations between Barre and prosecutors.

Barre had been scheduled to be sentenced July 13, after pleading guilty in January to participating in a separate scheme to skim more than $1 million from a massive City Hall energy-savings contract signed in the waning days of Morial's tenure. But that proceeding was postponed to Sept. 5, fueling speculation among courthouse observers that Barre was providing information about other corrupt deals in an effort to reduce his jail time. That theory was bolstered by the fact that Letten's office didn't oppose the delay in sentencing Barre.

Letten declined to discuss whether it was Barre who tipped his office to the bribes paid to Thomas and Jourdain.

Monday's court proceedings -- and the likely end of Thomas' mayoral aspirations -- began with a 9 a.m. appearance before U.S. Magistrate Louis Moore, who publicly outlined the charges for the first time -- three days after news of Thomas' legal problems broke.

About two dozen of Thomas' family members and friends jammed Moore's courtroom to offer their support. Thomas, who was greeted with hugs and kisses, appeared composed throughout. Procedural rules required Thomas to enter a "not guilty" plea before the magistrate.

An hour later, the scene shifted to Vance's court where a composed Thomas, speaking in hushed tones with his hands clasped in front of him, admitted his guilt.

At first, the crowd of supporters sat quietly.

Later, Thomas' father, sitting in the front row and gripping a walker, wept as Vance explained the charges. Other loved ones, tears streaming from their faces, wrapped their arms around each other in an effort to offer comfort.

As Thomas walked out of the courtroom, the group burst into applause, with one woman shouting "I am proud of you!"

Thomas has agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in an attempt to reduce his prison time. In exchange for that pledge, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jan Mann said the government agreed to charge the councilman with a single bribery count rather than multiple charges that could have added decades to his jail sentence.

Federal prosecutors kept a tight lid on the probe of Thomas, who continued to conduct city business until last Thursday's council meeting. Mann said the plea agreement with Thomas was signed on July 18, after he was interviewed by the FBI and he and his attorney conducted negotiations with prosecutors. Neither she nor Roby would discuss how long ago those meetings began.

Asked if he can provide the kind of information prosecutors are seeking, Thomas said he was not sure, adding that "I have not been part of any criminal enterprise."

Roby, Thomas' attorney, said his client "has agreed to be transparent and forthright with regards to any relevant and credible information that he might have." But Roby quickly added: "He can't make information up if it doesn't exist."

As council members prepared to name an interim replacement for Thomas and schedule an election to choose his successor, a shocked Mayor Nagin called Thomas a "friend" and " strong partner" in his administration's efforts to clean up city government.

"This is a sad day for me personally and for our entire city," Nagin said at an afternoon news conference to discuss Thomas' resignation. "Oliver, in my opinion, is a good man who has made a mistake, admitted it and asked for our forgiveness. He now stands ready to accept the consequences of his actions."

Nagin asked New Orleanians "to treat this man with compassion and balance. Judge him based upon his entire career and not an isolated incident, a moment of weakness. I believe he has earned that."

For his part, Thomas said he plans to "start repaying my community" immediately by volunteering to work in a mentoring program for young offenders at Criminal Court. He said he also plans to resume participation in a literacy program at Douglass High School if officials there will allow him.

Thomas declined to speculate on how much jail time he might ultimately serve.

"I don't even want to think about it one way or another," he said, "because I don't want to get my hopes up too high and I don't want to be too down."

Noting that as of today his family has "zero income," no health insurance, and can no longer afford payments on a family-owned car, Thomas offered a bit of gallows humor.

"Hopefully, as a felon I can still get an RTA bus pass," he said.

Federal prosecutors and investigators emphasized that Louisiana does not have a monopoly on public corruption.

"I'm not going to condone machine politics, but in Boston we elected a mayor from prison," said James Bernazzani, the special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans field office.

"It's not unique to Louisiana. It's just brazen down here. Machine politics in the north will skim the cream . . . . Here in Louisiana, they skim the cream, they steal the milk, hijack the bottles and look for the cow. And it is brazen, the amount of activity down here where people think it's their right as soon as they assume office to steal from the people."

Letten trod a bit more lightly, and commended Thomas for acting "professionally" throughout his dealings with the government.

"I can't judge and I can't label," he said. "I don't call people hypocrites and I don't label people morally. Good people every day make very, very bad mistakes and do bad things and have to be accountable to that."

But Letten acknowledged that the case against Thomas was unusual because the councilman has been such a big supporter of the U.S. Attorney's Office and other law enforcement officials throughout his career.

"I think Mr. Thomas has certainly been someone who's been out there and certainly has done a lot of good things for the city. . ." Letten said. "Do some surprise you more than others when you come across the evidence? Sure. We're human. We don't have ice water in our veins."

Letten added that his office relies on the facts, no matter who is being investigated.

"Are we disappointed? Sure. Is this a hard day? Absolutely," he said. "But did the result that was achieved in federal court today, was it the correct result for the citizens, was it the correct result for enforcement of federal law and the correct result for the reality and the image that New Orleans has to be? Absolutely."

Frank Donze can be reached at fdonze@timespicayune.com or (504)$?826-3328.